“I feel very fortunate that we have the people and the technology in Dayton to take care of seniors,” said McGohan, a Kettering resident and retired businessman.
It turned out that a blood clot was behind McGohan’s dizziness, he said.
“He turned out to have what’s called a subdural hematoma, which is a blood clot in the head that’s pressing up against the brain, and it’s oftentimes a critical emergency,” said Dr. Paul Haggerty, McGohan’s doctor at Kettering Health’s Years Ahead center.
The blood clot was discovered after Haggerty scheduled McGohan for an MRI.
“He spent an hour and a half talking with me,” McGohan said about his first visit with Haggerty. “And what’s amazing is it was scheduled for an hour and a half. I’m thinking, I’ve never talked to a physician more than 15, 20 minutes.”
McGohan ended up going to Eaton to get an MRI, and within 10 minutes of him leaving the facility after it was done, he got a call from Haggerty.
“I said, ‘I’m coming back from Eaton,’ and he said, ‘Pull over,’” McGohan said.
Blood clots are a leading cause of stroke, which kills about 160,000 people a year in the United States. About 25% of stroke survivors die within one year, according to the National Institutes of Health.
McGohan went to the emergency room at Kettering Health Main Campus where he was seen by neurosurgeon Dr. Peter Bouz.
“I called him. I didn’t know him that well. He said, ‘When you get in there, I’ll be right there,’” McGohan said.
McGohan was worried doctors would have to drill a hole through his skull to clear the blood clot, he said, but Bouz used a different procedure of gaining access to the artery through another part of McGohan’s body and removing the clot that way.
“In that way, patients can be cured from the condition without having significant surgical interventions,” Bouz said.
“I was out of the hospital the next day,” McGohan said. “No side effects.”
McGohan said he felt thankful for the treatment he received, as well as the time and attention he got when he was trying to figure out why he was dizzy — a symptom that he’s no longer dealing with.
“What they did for me is tremendous,” McGohan said.
McGohan is the founder of McGohan Brabender, an independent benefits broker that is now an employee-owned business after McGohan’s retirement.
The business started at a desk in McGohan’s bedroom after attending Bowling Green State University, he said. The business remained small until he brought on a partner, Tim Brabender.
“That little company grew into about 275 employees,” McGohan said.
Under the McGohan Brabender umbrella, McGohan and others also launched Retired Med, which helps older adults navigate Medicare. That part of the business has grown to about 130 employees, he said.
“I‘m really proud of the company,” McGohan said.
McGohan, 81, retired about eight years ago, and he recently lost his wife, Jackie, who died Sept. 10.
“They said it wouldn’t last,” McGohan said about when Jackie and he married. They were each other’s high school sweethearts. “We were married 61 years.”
In those six decades, their family grew to include three kids, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
He said the region is lucky to have doctors like those at Years Ahead, which specializes in care for people who 65 and older.
“I thank God for this hospital and Years Ahead,” McGohan said.
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